chord changes

with some chords ( espicially new ones ) i tend to put one finger down at a time. I know this is the wrong way to do it since its really slow. Is there a way to fix this ?

Actually it's not the wrong way. Everyone starts off really slow when learning their chords, but with practice they soon become second nature.

Practice placing the fingers down slowly, then speed up. Once all your fingers get there at the same time, try going from some other chord to the new chord to build speed.

Like he said, there isn't any wrong way to learn to play chord changes. One thing you can try to do is play songs by Creedance Clearwater Revival. Most of their songs are just three or four chords so it's easy to learn the progression, and then will help get faster at changing between each chord. Here's a tab for you to try.

"Proud Mary" - CCR
     C         A
e |------------------------|
b |--1--1--1---2--2--2-----|
g |--0--0--0---2--2--2-----|
d |--2--2--2---2--2--2-----|
a |--3--3--3---0--0--0-----|
e |------------------------|

for the C chord put your index finger on the 1st fret, middle finger on the 2nd fret, and ring finger on the 3rd fret.. for the A chord take your index and ring finger off the guitar and use your middle finger to hold the b, g, and d strings down. this one will be tough but makes it easier to switch inbetween these type of chords later on. hope this helps.
David
david@guitartricks.com

All you've gotta do is just strum a simple four beat pattern continuously and hold a chord and then change!If your slow or it sounds wrong don't stop keep the strumming going and try and correct your fingers!If you need some chord patterns to practise use http://www.tabcrawler.com as a lessons resource!

Try alternating between chords (such as D to G, C to G, E to A, Dm7 to G7, Cmaj7 to C6, etc...) and playing along with a metronome at a reasonable pace. Make sure that you try to continue to keep time with the metronome even if you flub one of the chords. Try playing each chord for 4 beats then switching to the next and playing it for 4 beats and then repeating that pattern over and over again until you can play it cleanly. As you get more comfortable with the 4 beat pattern, reduce it to a 2 beat and then 1 beat pattern. This will help improve your strength and dexterity to go from chord to chord.

it'll come easier when you just stick with it....
i remember trying to switch from a C to an F chord
(open positions)...and all the other first chords
i learned...
but now..its like second nature...
when you introduce new chord shapes/voicings to your
bag...you're bound to be a little "fumbly" at first...
just stick with it and next thing you know...
rock on

-G